For all the Saints

I remember skimming through a book of games for youth once. A suggested activity was to have participants dress up as their favourite saint and have the others guess who they were. I think I actually laughed out loud because I just couldn’t imagine this flying at all with my youth. They might have been game to dress up, but as a saint? This would have involved effort and research – so not happening and so not cool.

All Saints’ Day is traditionally on the liturgical calendar on November 1st. Some will even make it the theme of their October 30th service this year. And sadly, it’s not something we talk about much with our kids and young people. Most of them would be lucky to be able to name one saint, let alone know what one was.

In doing a bit of research on this, I discovered some interesting things. Branches of Christianity and its denominations vary greatly in who they consider to be saints. For Catholics, there is a long process involved and a list of specific criteria to determine if the person is one. Mother Teresa is a recent example. However, in many Protestant churches, a saint is anyone who is a Christian, a professed follower of Jesus. This reflects the words of Paul in the New Testament. Kenneth L. Woodward wrote that “A saint is always someone through whom we catch a glimpse of what God is like—and of what we are called to be.”

If you think about it, this is a pretty important topic. After all, it speaks not only to our identity as Christians and trailblazers of our faith, but it also offers opportunity to explore all who are still walking on the earth and impacting our lives because of their belief in God shown in their words and actions. Here are some ideas of how to engage your learners with the saints:

1. Do a bit of research of your own in your church library, local library and/or online. Pick some historical saints that your group might resonate with and see if you can find any pictures and/or books to introduce them to someone like Francis of Assisi or Theresa of Avila or Mother Teresa. Ask them why these people might have been chosen as saints.  

2. Talk about the idea of Paul’s from the New Testament that everyone who is a Christian is a saint. Encourage people from the congregation to bring in a photo of themselves and create a wall of saints or get a bunch of current and past church directories and talk about how all the people listed are/were followers of Jesus and therefore saints (you don’t need to be sticky about adherents vs. professing members – it will create confusion). How are the people pictured the same as and different from each other? Which ones do your learners know well? Which ones have made an impact on them and their faith?

3. Challenge your learners to interview one or more saints in honour of All Saints Day. Work together on good questions to ask and then send them off, possibly in pairs, to find someone to interview from the congregation, perhaps at coffee hour. Talk ahead of time about good etiquette in seeking and conducting an interview. Give a heads up to the congregation during the announcements that they may be asked for a brief interview by your learners. The next Sunday, have your group share what they learned. With permission, this could become a feature newsletter article.

4. Challenge your learners to draw a picture or paint their own “cloud of witnesses” – the saints who have helped them to know Jesus. If possible, have them identify the people in their artwork. These could be family members, teachers or others who point to Jesus and not necessarily people in their home church.

5. Provide fancy lined paper or blank cards for your learners to write a thank you letter to someone in the congregation who shows them what God is like. This could be the custodian, a volunteer doing behind the scenes jobs, a teacher, or whoever else they can think of. Have them write about why they chose this person and why they appreciate them so much. Have your learners deliver the letters.

Once in a sermon, the preacher challenged the congregation to name out loud someone who had taught them about Jesus. Then, the preacher said, “And who will say your name when asked that question?” This has always stuck with me. Thank you for all that you do to show Jesus in your ministry and life’s work.